Red Wings coach Mike Babcock expects nothing less Friday, when the Wings get hard-hitting forward Justin Abdelkader back just in time to face Anaheim in a do-or-die Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena.

Abdelkader returns from a two-game suspension he drew for his hit on Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman in Game 3. Abdelkader will reunite with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk to make the Wings’ potent top line even better.

“Huge for us,” Babcock said soon after the Wings’ plane landed Thursday at Detroit Metro Airport. “He’s been a physical presence for us. I think he makes Z and Pav way better. That’ll really help.”

Mikael Samuelsson will move off the top line, but Babcock did not announce who would sit out to make room for Abdelkader.

Abdelkader said the suspension won’t change his aggressive style.

“I don’t think I have a history of making dirty plays and making dirty hits,” he said. “I just play my same game and, obviously, if a hit like that presents itself I’ve just got to be smarter about it and target a little lower.”

The Ducks also are bracing for Abdelkader’s return.

“It means they’re a better team,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “He’s played really well for them, especially against us. So they’re going to be a better team and a harder foe tomorrow night than they’ve been before. If we’ve played the absolute best that we can play up to this date, it’s not going to be good enough.”

LYDMAN OUT: Lydman has been suffering headaches and Boudreau all but ruled him out for the rest of the first-round series.

“Well, he’s not on the trip and he hasn’t skated since he got hit,” Boudreau said, “so whether it be today or (for Game 7) Sunday I’ve got to believe it’d be hard for him to get back in the lineup.”

CLOSE CALLS: Boudreau and Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said they weren’t worried about league punishment against forward Daniel Winnik for his hit on Daniel Cleary that drew a five-minute major boarding call in Game 5.

You can be sure Abdelkader took notice of the call.

“Yeah, I think if (referees) see the guy gets injured, then it’s definitely going to raise some red flags,” he said. “If Cleary would’ve got up right away, it probably would have been a two-minute penalty. But he was hurt on the play, so it’s five minutes. Yeah, they’re calling it tight and trying to protect players, which is a good thing.”